Merchandising case



Aug. 8, 1967 v F. v. BRACH MERCHANDISING CASE Filed March 1, 1965INVENTOR.

BY J ,fd/bk M United States Patent 3,334,952 MERCHANDISING CASE Frank V.'Brach, Glenview, Ill., assignor to E. J. Brach & Sons, Chicago, 11]., acorporation of Illinois Filed Mar. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 435,916 1 Claim.(Cl. 312-224) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A merchandising case forsimultaneously displaying in bulk and in segregated fashion a variety oftypes of candy or other articles, comprising two shelves divided intobins the front portion of the uppermost bins overlying a significantpart of the rearward portion of the lower or first row of bins creatingan illusion of substantial bin depth and massive bulk display ofmaterial disposed therein, and to impart to the top row of bins andmerchandise displayed therein an impression or illusion of greatmagnitude correlated to that of the lower pins by means of a reflectedimage of the contents of the upper row of bins only.

The present invention relates to merchandise display cases and the like,and particularly, to an improved case for self-service merchandising ofsmall articles sold in bulk, such as individually wrapped pieces ofcandy sold by the pound.

The object of the present invention is to provide a case forsimultaneously displaying in bulk and in segregated fashion a variety oftypes of candy or other articles, to facilitate selection of the candyby the customer, to dispose the candy for convenient access by thecustomer to facilitate self-service directly from the bulk display, toprovide an appearance of a mass display greater than actually provided,to maintain an appearance that the display is always fully stocked, andotherwise to enhance the display of the candy and encourage the customerto help himself.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved self servicemerchandising case comprising a boxlike base providing an enclosed spacefor storage of an extra supply or reserve inventory of the articles tobe sold and providing a support of convenient height for open display ofthe articles, a first row of open top article receiving bins on top ofthe base each extending from adjacent the rear to the front of the basein parallel abutting relation to one another, the bins defining separatecompartments for reception of segregated supplies of respectivearticles, a second row of open top article receiving bins overlying therearward portions of the first row of bins and extending from adjacentthe rear to adjacent the mid-portion of the base in parallel abuttingrelation to one another and adapted for reception of segregated suppliesof further respective articles, the overlap of the upper bins over thelower bins creating an impression of a massive display of the articlesin the lower bins, and a reflective sheet extending upwardly andforwardly from the upper rearward margin of the upper row of bins forreflecting toward the front of the case a second image of the contentsof the upper row of bins whereby to create an impression of a massivesupply of the articles in said upper rows; said bins all facingforwardly and opening upwardly at approximately waist height tofacilitate and encourage self-selection of the articles.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent in the following detailed description.

Now, in order to acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner ofmaking and using my improved merchandising case, I shall describe, inconnection with the accompanying drawing, a preferred embodiment of thecase and the preferred manner of making and using the same.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of my improved display case;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation thereof; and

FIGURE 4 is a vertical cross-section on an enlarged scale takensubstantially on line 44 of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawing, my merchandising case is preferably comprisedof a base 10 of approximately waist height including side, rear andfront wall means enclosing a space 12 for storage of a reserve inventoryof the merchandise to be sold, e.g., bulk boxes of a variety ofindividually wrapped pieces of candy. Preferably, the base includes anelevated bottom 14 to store the inventory offthe-floor and to facilitatemovement of the case and the inventory as a unit when relocating thecase during rearrangement of a store.

The front wall is preferably comprised of one or more doors facilitatingaccess to the stored inventory. In the illustrated embodiment, I providethree slidable doors 16a, 16b and 160. Suitably, the base includes apair of parallel guide channels 18 at the front thereof for slidablereception of the doors, the two outboard doors 16a and being slidablypositioned in the inner channel and the center door 1612 being slidablypositioned in the outer channel. Each door is provided with a recess orhole therein to facilitate grasping and sliding thereof withoutinterfering with customers (as would protruding knobs).

Mounted on top of the base are a plurality of open top bins 20 extendingfrom the front top edge of the base 10 rearwardly to a point beyond themiddle of the base. These bins may be formed individually or as anintegral assembly, as desired, and are each comprised of a flat bottomwall, upstanding side and rear walls and inwardly facing verticalchannel portions at the front edges of the side walls adapted forremovable reception of a transparent front wall 21 such as glass. Thebins are all disposed in parallel abutting relation to one anotherthereby to provide contiguous but separated bins for reception ofrespective articles, that is, respective kinds of candy. One or more ofthe bins can be provided with a transverse member or divider 22 endwiseslidably received between members 2323. These serve several functions,such as permitting two different items to be separately disposed in onebin or aiding in maintaining distribution in the bin of a single classof materials.

Mounted above and in overlying relation to the first row of bins is asecond row of bins 30. The bins 30 are preferably identical in structureto the bins 20 and repetition of the above described bin construction isthus unnecessary. The bins 30 are of the same or different width as thebins 20, each 'bin extending from the vertical plane of the rearwardmargin of the base 10 forwardly to a point adjacent the middle of thebase whereby the front portions of the bins 30 overlie a significantpart of the rearward portions of the lower or first row of bins 20. Thenet effect is that the rearward part of the lower bins are so covered asto shield from view the rear walls of the lower bins and thereby createan illusion of substantial bin depth and a massive bulk display of candytherein.

To impart to the top row of bins and the candy displayed therein animpression or illusion of great magnitude correlated to that of thelower row of bins, a second image of the contents of the upper row ofbins is projected to frontal view by a reflective sheet 40 extendingupwardly and forwardly from the upper rearward edge of the bins 30. Thesheet 40, which may be any polished or plated metal, preferably is partof a triangular beam, as shown in FIGURE 4, whereby the same is rigidlymaintained in selected position. The reflective sheet per se is of alength equal to that of the rows of bins 20 and 30 and is of such heightand disposed at such inclination that the same affords a reflection tothe average viewer of at least a substantial part of the bins in theupper row, but no part of the bins in the lower row, whereby theillusion created relative to the upper row of bins is correlated ormated with the illusion created relative to the lower row of bins.

For aesthetic purposes, the sides of the case are finished withgenerally triangular surfacing sheets 32, the upper inclined edges ofwhich intersect the upper front edges of the bins 20 and 30.

To enhance the merchandising capabilities, pockets 41 are formed in theupper wall of the triangular beam which forms and supports thereflective sheet; said pockets being adapted for reception of a supplyof'bags 42 which are exposed to view, whereby the customer is encouragedto help himself and make his own initial selection of candies to his ownwhims and desires. Similarly formed pockets 43 may be inserted in eitherrow of bins, for example adjacent or on the side walls 32 illustratedparticularly in FIGURES 2 and 3, to afford an added supply of theself-service bags 42'.

The display is completed by an overhead illuminated sign 50 which servesthe dual functions of affording a forwardly facing, back illuminatedsign board 51 for advertising copy and means for illuminating the opentop bins and the candy therein. The sign preferably is of triangularform in cross-section, of a length not quite as great as the rows ofbins, and supported by a pair of tubular posts 52 directly above theforward portions of the upper row of bins for illumination of all of thebins. The posts 52 are secured to the rear wall of the base and helpsustain the upper row of bins 30 and the reflector beam 40. At theirupper ends, the posts are bent or curved inwardly, forwardly andupwardly thereby to support the sign in the desired position.

The sign 50 preferably houses a plurality of parallel fluorescent tubes(not shown), the power supply cord for which may extend through one ofthe posts 52 so as to be hidden from view and not detract from thedisplay. The fluorescent light tubes may be of one or more selectedcolors to enhance the display. In particular, I prefer to include atleast a red fluorescent tube, and possibly a yellow fluorescent tube aswell, as these colors especially enhance the coloring and appetizingappeal of candy.

The total effect is an extremely appealing massive exhibition of a widevariety of candies each displayed in substantial quantity and appearingto be supplied in even larger bulk quantity, the articles all beingdisplayed at a convenient height and being readily accessible whereby toencourage self-service by the customer; yet the total area occupied bythe case is small (no greater than conventional) particularlyconsidering the amount of reserve inventory that can be stored in thebase, the quantity of articles actually displayed for self-selection bycustomers and the illusion of tremendous quantities of the respectivekinds of candy. Thus, the objects and advantages of the invention havebeen shown herein to be attained in the convenient, economical andpractical manner.

While I have shown and described what I regard to be the preferredembodiment of my invention, it is to be appreciated that variouschanges, rearrangements and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, as defined by the appendedclaim.

I claim:

A merchandising case for small articles sold in bulk, such asindividually wrapped pieces of candy, comprising a box-like base ofapproximately waist height having vertical walls providing an enclosedspace therein for storage of merchandise, doors in said baseaccommodating access to said space, a first row of open top articlereceiving bins supported on the top of said base, said bins extendingfrom adjacent the rear to the front of said base in parallel abuttingrelation to one another, a second row of open top article receiving binsoverlying the rearward portions of said first row of bins and extendingfrom adjacent the rear to adjacent the mid-portion of said base inparallel abutting relation to one another and in parallel relation tothe bins of said first row, and a reflective sheet extending upwardlyand forwardly at an inclination to vertical from the upper rearwardmargin of said second row of bins, the inclination and height of saidreflective sheet relative to said second row of bins being adequate toreflect toward the front of the case a second image of the contents ofsaid second row of bins but no part of the bins in the lower row.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,704,365 3/1929 McCauley 312-280X 1,719,966 7/1929 Burns 312280 X 2,129,396 9/1938 Archer 3 l22342,320,556 6/1943 Belshaw 312224 2,499,089 2/1950 Brill -2 62-2512,594,066 4/1952 Pabst 62-252 2,762,672 9/1956 Motter 312140.3

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner.

